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Galloway, Camille Sophie Lacroix

University of British Columbia

Growing evidence indicates that chronic high-intensity endurance exercise predisposes male, middle-aged athletes to an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). The etiology of AF in endurance athletes is multi-factorial and remains incompletely understood. AF care in athletes remains largely based on evidence derived from the general population. However, athletes have training demands that make them a unique group of patients with AF which may complicate their care. Understanding the experiences of athletes with AF provides a necessary foundation for addressing their challenges in living and managing their condition and identifying any gaps in their arrhythmia management. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe the experiences and perspectives of endurance athletes living with AF. Masters’ athletes with AF between the ages of 35-60 years were recruited internationally through cardiology practices and social media. Ten middle aged, male endurance athletes with AF and more than 1500 lifetime training hours participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis to construct four main themes: (1) athletic identity (2) training with AF (3) psychological and psychosocial impacts (4) athletes' experiences with healthcare providers. Participants’ identities as athletes were core to their experiences with AF. Having AF constantly threatened their athletic identity and influenced their decision making. Athletes' description of their AF revolved around how it affected their training which remained a priority for them despite experiencing significant limitations. Athletes gauged their responses to treatments (e.g., pharmacologic, cardioversion, ablation) according to the impacts on their exercise capacity. Participants additionally highlighted the negative impact of AF on work, relationships, and general psychological well-being. Athletes felt largely misunderstood by healthcare providers, who rarely considered their training as an aspect of care and found a lack of treatment recommendations tailored towards continuation of sport practice. In particular, athletes highlighted the need for practitioners to consider their training goals and to provide them with specific exercise parameters. Findings from this study emphasized the uniqueness of this male athletic AF population and highlighted a need for tailored ‘athlete-specific' management. Specialized sport AF care should be considered to ensure efficacious treatment and maintain quality of life in athletes.

Text

2022-10-26

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/83067

Nursing

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/